Washington DC [US], March 15 : The United States Senate passed a bill on Friday (local time) to fund the government through September 30, narrowly avoiding a shutdown just hours before the deadline, CNN reported.
The bill received bipartisan support, with 10 Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, crossing party lines in a key procedural vote.
The bill now heads to the desk of President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it into law.
Schumer defended his decision, arguing that Democrats had only 'bad options' when it came to shutting down Trump's government or accepting the Republican bill that would cut spending to programs like veterans' health care or Washington, DC, firefighters and police, CNN reported.
"I believe it is the best way to minimize the harm that the Trump administration will do to the American people," Schumer argued in defense of his decision during remarks on the Senate floor. "Clearly, this is a Hobson's choice. The CR is a bad bill, but as bad as the CR is, I believe allowing Donald Trump to take even much more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option."
The bill passed by a vote of 54 to 46.
Schumer faced backlash from his party members over crossing party lines to vote for the bill. The New York lawmaker defended himself by saying, "My caucus and I are in sync."
Schumer told CNN that he "always knew there would be disagreements," but maintained that a "government shutdown would be far worse" than voting for the GOP-led measure.
"My job as leader is to lead the party, and if there's going to be danger in the near future, to protect the party. And I'm proud I did it. I knew I did the right thing, and I knew there would be some disagreements. That's how it always is," Schumer said.
President Trump praised Schumer for announcing his support, saying, "I appreciate Senator Schumer, and I think he did the right thing, really. I'm very impressed by that."
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky was the only Republican to vote against the bill.
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